Vinyl and aluminum sidings are among the most popular residential building finishes in use today. They are inexpensive to manufacture, relatively straightforward to install and provide a durable, attractive finish. However, properly fastening vinyl or aluminum siding to a structure is challenging for even an experienced craftsmen. As well understood in the art, vinyl and aluminum sidings expand and contract with changes in temperature. Consequently, the head of siding fasteners must not be driven tightly against the siding nail hem or expansion and contraction will eventually cause unsightly buckles and, in the case of vinyl siding, may crack the material.
As understood by those skilled in the art, it is difficult for even the skilled professional to control nail depth penetration to ensure that an inner side of the head of every fastener used to install vinyl or aluminum siding is spaced ( 1/32″ is generally recommended) from the siding nail hem. Expensive mechanical fastener drivers have been developed to facilitate proper installation, but even mechanical fastener drivers have their disadvantages. For example, they are generally bulky and do not usually provide a clear field of view of where the fastener will be driven, so it can be difficult to ensure that each fastener is driven in a nail slot in the nail hem. Missing the nail slot is even more undesirable than driving the fastener tight against the nail hem. Second, mechanical fastener drivers cannot be used in certain locations, such as tight inside corners, close to eaves or overhangs, etc.
There therefore exists the need for a siding hammer that facilitates proper installation of siding materials, in particular vinyl and aluminum siding and trim components normally used in association with the siding.